Always, always strain the ricotta.

Cooking and baking in my Dad's house is taking a little bit of getting used to. He has a pretty large, absolutely gorgeous kitchen with a fantastic gas stove, but nothing is set up my way and I've been tripping and stumbling my way through even basic day to day cooking. I've gotten so used to working in my what used to be my tiny cramped kitchen in Binghamton, that everything was like a well choreographed dance. I knew where everything was, where everything went, and most of the time everything was in it's place. It was small, so I learned to be neat and clean up as I went; but now, faced with all this wonderful granite counter space, I've forgotten everything I've learned. Now, I have things on every counter, I search for a spatula and I have no idea what flours (probably none), sugars and spices are in the cabinets. 

My idea of pantry staples are entirely different from his. My must haves include at least 3 kinds of flour, 2 kinds of sugar, various extracts, a couple pounds of butter (frozen), dried beans, vegetables (fresh and frozen), fruit, a variety of nuts, good quality baking chocolate, some grains, yogurt and low fat cottage cheese. His are something along the lines of 7 different cheeses, sandwich bread, bagels, pasta, store-bought soups, the phone to dial for takeout and his car keys to just straight-up go out for dinner. The only pantry staples I think we agree on are eggs and coffee.

Pictures courtesy of Nathalie Defrenne

Anyway, now I'm rambling but the point of all this is that I forgot to strain the ricotta before I made it into cannoli filling. I forgot to strain the ricotta because it didn't even occur to me to check the cabinet for cheesecloth. It didn't even occur to me, because why in the world would someone who doesn't bake anything have cheesecloth?

Well, it turns out there was not one but two packages of it in the drawer from  the last time I made ricotta cheese. I found it by accident after it was already too late. I mixed all the right ingredients and it tasted like cannoli filling, but the consistency was far too loose. I made a new batch and mixed them together to firm it up. The consistency still wasn't quite right but no one else noticed the difference.

Picture courtesy of Nathalie Defrenne

The lesson in all of this? Alway, always strain the ricotta. Oh, and don't forget the mascarpone. I've been so focused on the ricotta, I've forgotten to tell you about the most important part - it's the key ingredient and what makes a good cannoli, an amazing cannoli. 

Pictures courtesy of Nathalie Defrenne

This brings me to the shells. Maybe one day I will try making my own shells, but for now, I bought them. I'm just not interested in messing around with deep frying anything. Most bakeries are more than willing to sell you the empty shells and in the event that you can't find them - order them from Cannoli By Mail. There are very few bakeries in Binghamton so I ordered the mini shells online last weekend and they were very fresh. Now that I'm back downstate, bakeries abound and I simply stopped by my favorite french bakery this morning.

Cannolis

I used  fresh full-fat ricotta cheese but I suspect a good quality part skim would work just as well. Filling can be made ahead and stored in the fridge for a day or two but don't fill the cannolis until you are ready to serve them (or no more than 4 hours in advance). Makes enough to fill 70 mini or 35 regular size shells.

4 cup mascarpone

4 cups whole milk ricotta

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

3-5 cups confectioner's sugar plus more for dusting

mini chocolate chips (optional)

70 mini or 35 regular size cannoli shells

Fold the cheesecloth so that it is several layers thick. Place the ricotta in the center, wrap it up and squeeze as much liquid out as you can. Put the strained ricotta in a food processor and process until smooth (about 20 seconds).

Combine the ricotta, mascarpone, vanilla and almond extracts in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until combine. Beat in 3 cups of confectioner's sugar and taste the filling. Add more sugar to taste for sweetness and proper consistency. It should be looser than a buttercream but thick enough to hold it's shape when piped.

Pour the mini chocolate chips on to a small plate and set aside.

Using a pastry bag (or in my case a large ziploc bag) and large decorating tip piped the filling into each end of the cannolis. 

Dip each end of each cannoli into the chocolate chips to coat.

Sprinkle cannolis with powdered sugar and serve immediately.

In the meantime

I know I've been a little absent lately, you'll have to excuse me it's graduation week and I'm overwhelmingly busy. I have been baking my butt off though, and I'll have plenty of delicious things to share when I return. In the meantime I'll leave you with this almond cake from 17 and baking. I made it a few weeks ago for Jason's birthday and I have to say, the frosting was really the star of the show - it's mostly mascarpone and it tastes like a cannoli. (Have I told you about my obsession with mascarpone? It's getting a little out of control).

This cake is exactly everything I could ever want in an everyday cake; simple yet impressive, downright elegant with a generous layer of wonderfully light mascarpone frosting on top and a sprinkling of soft blueberries nestled inside. It's similar to a coffee cake in that it's a little dense and definitely needs a good cup of coffee to go with it, but it's perfect for a quick everyday breakfast cake. Best of all, it takes about 40 minutes from the time I roll out my mixer to the moment I pull it out of the oven.

Blueberry Almond Mascarpone Cake

From 17 and Baking

If you don't have buttermilk you can replace it with a 1/2 cup of milk and 1/2 tablespoon the white vinegar or lemon juice. Just combine the milk and lemon juice or vinegar and let sit 5 minutes until a bit foamy. If you use frozen blueberries, do not defrost them first or they will dye the whole cake cake bluish-purple.
Makes one 9" cake. 

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup almond meal (click here to read about almond meal)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup + 1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 tsp almond extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk

3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
2 tsp whole wheat pastry flour

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Butter a 9″ round pan, and then flour the pan.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a mixer, cream the butter and sugar at medium-high speed for about 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Mix in the extracts and lemon zest, then beat in the egg. Working on low speed, add 1/3 of the flour mixture, then 1/2 the buttermilk mixture, then another 1/3 of the flour, the last of the buttermilk, then the last of the flour. Mix until just combined.
Toss the blueberries with the remaining 2 tsp flour and stir them gently into the batter.
Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Bake 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then finish cooling on a rack. Cool to room temperature before frosting. If frosting the cake with mascarpone frosting, store the cake in the refrigerator.

Lemon Mascarpone Frosting
From 17 and Baking
Makes enough to frost one 9″ round cake

3/4 cup mascarpone cheese
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Zest of half a lemon
1/4 tsp vanilla

Beat cheese and cream together until smooth and creamy and slight peaks begin to form. Sift in the powdered sugar and zest and beat until smooth. Mix in the vanilla extract and spread on cooled cake.